Kamila Valieva, the Russian figure skater whose doping scandal rocked the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, testified by video link, but the Court of Arbitration for Sport requested new evidence.

Kamila ValievaPhoto: Serhii Bobiliev / TASS / Profimedia

Figure skater Kamila Valieva will be heard by the TAS – Consideration of evidence continues in November

The closed hearing began on Tuesday and is expected to conclude at the end of the week. However, “after the submission of evidence by the parties, the panel requested additional documents and, in order to allow the parties to consider and respond to these requests, decided to hold two additional days of hearings to consider the appeal,” TAS said in a statement, reports Agerpres.

“Therefore, the hearing will resume on November 9 and 10 in Lausanne,” the same source said.

During this meeting, three judges listened to the 17-year-old figure skater, as well as experts and witnesses via video conference.

Kamila Valieva tested positive for trimetazidine, a banned substance, during a test carried out in December 2021 during the Russian national championships, but the result was not made public until February 8, a day after the teenager helped the Russian team win gold at the Russian championships. Olympics in Beijing.

In her defense, Valieva said the positive test was the result of an accidental infection, given that her grandfather, who took her to practice every day, was being treated with trimetazidine, a substance that was found in low concentrations in the figure skater’s samples.

In 2022, the Russian athlete was 15 years old, and given her age, she was supposed to enjoy complete confidentiality, according to the rules of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). But the fact that the positive result was discovered during the Olympic Games and after his victory in the team competition, in which he succeeded in the first quadruple jump in the history of the Olympic Games, gave this case a special dimension.

During the Games in Beijing, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) decided not to award medals in team figure skating competitions until Valieva’s case is resolved.